u/Visible_Contract5432

This was taken at setup for Montreal and posted on a couple drum forums. Klek, the most talked about drummer this year, who fell into a big vat of money in March, is using an 80s era set of Tama Superstars, which is their second to bottom range of drums, with a reasonably priced Tama piccolo snare. Was not long ago you could buy all that for $500, US or CDN, but they’ve gone up over the last couple years because they’re really good and became more highly regarded over the years.

He’s also doing about everything that pro drummers often recommend against. All the heads are muffled to where there’s no ring at all, and there’s a standing joke on drum forums about bass drums full of laundry, and there’s Klek with a bass drum full of laundry. Hey, Ringo and Phil Rudd rode a similar sound to history, so why not Klek?

You gotta love a guy who can play circles around most and buy anything he wants, and still uses the intermediate level drums he’s always used. He did update the cymbals, and he doesn’t use cheap ones because cheap cymbals almost always sound cheap. But I like how he didn’t immediately buy a set of Tama Starclassics with a hand lacquered polka dot finish.

He could, however, have one on order.

Musicians quit being so willing to do anything to make it. Your chances of striking it big are less than your chances of winning Lotto and getting struck by lightning in the same day, even if you’re “connected.” Do what ADP did, play what makes you happy, don’t worry about being “commercially viable,” and have fun at all costs.
Record company weasels stop pretending that they know anything. Nobody is more surprised about ADP becoming massive than them and their management. They thought they’d have a decent little project that would pay for itself and add a little fun to the world. Meanwhile, as we speak, in record company offices the world over, some promising act is being told to change everything about themselves, hire a committee of writers and producers, and fire two people for not being pretty enough to sell. That needs to stop, because nobody knows what a hit sounds like. Even hit artists don’t know what a hit sounds like until after they put it out. It’s all just guessing.
Musicians stop acting like music education is snobby and a bad thing that should be avoided at all costs. You don’t get ADP level good without it. You don’t have to go to music college to get educated, either. I learned it in middle and high school, and with a beginner’s book and YouTube vids, it’s easier than ever to get the information. You just have to work the program. Yeah, we all know people who don’t know theory and can still play, but they’re flukes.

The chances of any of this stuff happening: Zero….point…zero.

Klek’s Drums

Things I hope happen in the wake of ADP